There Are Still Licensed Kids Games On Consoles In 2017

Compare the release schedule of 2017 to that of 2007 and one of the biggest differences you'd see is the almost complete disappearance of licensed games for kids. Where once movies and TV shows would see average (at best) cash-ins released on PlayStation and Xbox, today they land on mobile, and are even worse. But there are exceptions.

With Cars 3 inexplicably out in cinemas soon, there's a Cars 3 game coming to every home console, from the Wii U through to the PlayStation 4.

Does it look like something you, Kotaku reader, would pick up? Probably not. But of interest is that it's being made by Avalanche Studios, the team behind Disney Infinity, who since that title's sad demise have been bought by Warner Bros. and re-opened to churn this out.

Last month, the servers for Disney Infinity -- once aiming to be the biggest thing in video games and toys -- were quietly shut down. It's fitting for the game's sad demise that few people even bothered to notice.

Infinity featured a not-terrible car racing mode (albeit one that was greatly enhanced by assistance from OutRun's Sumo Digital, so hopefully those improvements have stuck). So for a kid's game, it could have worse pedigree.

A Cars themed racing game with kart-racing style mechanics, around environments from the movies? Hell yes sign me up!

[Seriously].

I played the original Cars licenced game from 2007 on PC [I've still got it], and I absolutely loved it. Granted, I'm a huge Cars fan; it's my favourite Pixar movie. Sure, there was a lot of shovelware which has come out over the years, but hopefully this new title is a bit of fun.

Look at many of the games which adults now consider "classics" and have a huge nostalgia for? Duck tales recently received a remake. Aladdin and The Lion King are considered gems of the 16-bit era, again nothing more than Disney licensed titles.
Then you have games like Toy Story [Mega Drive version], which are great examples of games which really pushed the capabilities of the system to the limits. Mode-7? Pfft, who needs it?

All that is to say, you are absolutely correct in that 1) Kids still need games they will love and 2) Just because they are licensed and/or kids titles doesn't mean they won't be good titles.

As a game dev working on kids games I can tell you where they all are - on mobile. Kids just find touch devices much more intuitive to use compared to controllers. Cheaper prices and their portable nature help too. You can have your kids play their games without interrupting your TV time

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